Photo of Hans Reiser.
Ran on: 10-11-2006
Nina Reiser, 31, was last seen at her husband's home drop- ping off their two children on Sept. 3. Police believe she is dead, but her body has not been found.
Ran on: 10-11-2006
Nina Reiser, 31, was last seen at her husband's home drop- ping off their two children on Sept. 3. Police believe she is dead, but her body has not been found.
Ran on: 10-11-2006 Ran on: 12-12-2006
Nina Reiser was last seen Sept. 3.
Ran on: 12-12-2006 Ran on: 12-12-2006 Ran on: 01-03-2007
Hans Reiser
Ran on: 01-03-2007 Ran on: 01-03-2007 Ran on: 01-03-2007

An Alameda County judge on Thursday lifted her request for the 7-year-old son of an Oakland man charged with murdering his wife to return to testify in court, saying the boy is likely to remain in Russia.

Superior Court Judge Julie Conger said the boy's maternal grandmother is seeking custody of him in Russian courts. Another Oakland judge had ordered that the boy appear at a child-custody hearing next week, but Conger said she had no jurisdiction in that case.

"I am not inclined to take any action on (the boy's) non-appearance at this time," Conger said, adding that the boy had already testified in open court last month, and nothing more is needed from him unless he returns to the United States voluntarily.

Thursday's hearing was delayed until Feb. 23, at which point attorneys will give closing arguments before Conger decides whether there is enough evidence to hold Hans Reiser, a 43-year-old computer programmer, over for trial. Reiser has pleaded not guilty.

On Tuesday, the hearing came to a halt when attorneys told the judge that the boy had failed to return from a planned visit to Russia and might never come back.

The boy, whom The Chronicle is not naming because of his age, is under the care of a Russian therapist who recommended that he not return to the United States on the grounds that he is traumatized by the alleged slaying of his Russian-born mother, Nina Reiser, 31, whose body has not been found, attorneys told Conger.

The therapist reported that the boy was having behavioral problems, including crying and not being able to sleep, according to Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge.

Last month, the boy testified that, contrary to an earlier police account, he hadn't heard his parents arguing and that he had seen his mother walk out the door of his father's home on Sept. 3, the day police believe she was killed.

Outside court, Reiser's attorney, William Du Bois, said the fact that both the boy and his 5-year-old sister are in St. Petersburg, Russia, could mean that Nina Reiser is alive and with her children.

Nina Reiser obtained Russian citizenship for her daughter two years ago and did the same for her son in July, two months before she disappeared, Du Bois said, noting that Russia doesn't recognize dual citizenship.

"I think the clear implication is that she might have had something to do with this," Du Bois said. "Maybe she was planning to take the kids to Russia and leave her husband here in jail."

Du Bois said he planned to file briefs to the judge arguing that the case against his client is weak because Nina Reiser's body hasn't been found.

But the prosecutor maintained that Nina Reiser is the victim of murder -- and that the evidence points to Hans Reiser.

"I have absolutely no information, no indication that Nina is alive in Russia," Dolge said, adding he expected the boy to appear in court should there be a trial.